GOP Rep. Banks jumps into race for open Indiana Senate seat

By TOM DAVIES
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Congressman Jim Banks of Indiana has launched a campaign for the U.S. Senate seat being given up by fellow Republican Mike Braun. Banks is the first candidate to formally enter the Senate race since Braun announced in December he’d forgo a 2024 reelection bid and instead run for governor. Banks’ announcement Tuesday comes days after the Washington-based Club for Growth began attacking ex-Gov. Mitch Daniels as insufficiently conservative while he ponders whether to also seek the Senate seat. Banks says Republican voters want “a conservative fighter” in the Senate and says “radical Democrats” and “spineless Republicans” will try to stop him. Banks criticizes Senate Republicans for cooperating too much with President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration.